The dynamics between Jughead and his friends are always fun to sort out and analyze, but there is one set of dynamics, as commenter “mystic_blue” from the JugheadxBetty livejournal community Never Noticed Before, pointed out, which is Jughead’s interactions with his family. Let’s take a look at how Jughead interacts with his family members.
Jughead’s mother
Out of the two parents, Jughead seems to get along with his mother the easiest. Even though she does get on to him about being lazy and not having a job, she seems to accept him, including all of his obscure ways. From how I look at it, that is what a mother should do; accept their children the way they are while trying to mold them into being responsible adults. I think this is the crux of the relationship between Jughead and his mother.
Jughead’s father
Jughead’s relationship with his father, on the other hand, is the most intriguing one. Jughead’s father can act like a cruel jerk to his son most of the time (possibly where Jughead gets his jerkiness from-he can be a jerk to quite a few of his friends and acquaintances, especially Ethel). Jughead’s father is constantly berating him on finding a job, doing something outside of lying around the house, and basically expecting nothing extraordinary from his son. In fact, many times, he outright says things indicative of his low approval of Jughead. Now, this might actually be the way Jughead wants it; he might want to have his father think so little of him that he can be as lazy as he wants without anyone expecting anything of him. And also, Jughead’s father’s frustration is understandable, seeing as how Jughead is around the age of an 11th and 12th grader and is about to go to college. As a parent, you’d be scared too if your kid exhibited none of the other maturing qualities other children were showing. You’d think, “What will happen to my child when he leaves home? He won’t be able to do anything!” So, at best, Jughead’s relationship with his father is very muddled.
Jellybean
The person Jughead seems the most comfortable with out of all of his family members is his little sister Jellybean. This is probably because, unlike his parents, Jellybean expects nothing from him. To her, Jughead is probably the coolest brother ever because he’s always around to play with her. Jughead dotes on Jellybean every chance he gets, making her the only girl-aside from his mother-that Jughead openly cares about. Their relationship, however, is the type of relationship that can be overplayed in fan-fiction, because there is nothing females like better than a man who can have fun with kids, especially their younger siblings.
So, there you have it. However, these are only three of the people in Jughead’s family. Perhaps, in the future, I can go more in depth and take a look at Jughead’s relationships with the more obscure members of his family. But as of right now, Jughead has his hands full with just these three. ▪
